The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an investigation into crashes It said occurred while Tesla vehicles were operating with a parking feature that allows owners to summon a car from a parking space without anyone being in the vehicle.
The preliminary investigation, into an estimated 2.6 million Tesla vehicles with the “Actually Smart Summon” feature, was disclosed Monday. The agency said that it is aware of “multiple crash allegations” where the user was unable to prevent a collision, either due to line of sight or reaction time issues. It is the latest probe by the federal safety regulator into self-driving features of Tesla vehicles.
It comes just two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a major supporter of Trump during the campaign and since the election, starts to officially exert his influence over a wide range of federal government policy.
Shares of Tesla have climbed more than 60% since the November election on investors’ belief that the Trump administration will follow policies that benefit Tesla, such as clearing the regulatory path to allow greater user of autonomous vehicles.
In October NHTSA announced it had launched an investigation into the safety of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving feature, or FSD, after at least one fatal accident involving a pedestrian, as well as three other accidents, one of which involved an injury.
The accidents involved in this latest investigation are by no means as serious. The agency said it had one accident reported to it by the car’s owner and at least three others in news reports.
“All four incidents involve the subject Tesla vehicles operating in Actually Smart Summon failing to detect posts or parked vehicles, resulting in a crash,” said the statement from NHTSA disclosing the latest probe. It said it is also looking at 12 other incidents reported by car owners.
The Tesla website says that the feature is to only be used on private property, such as parking lots and driveways, not on public streets and roads. The site also says that the person operating the car using the feature on a phone app should have a clear view of the car and the path it’s following so they can stop the vehicle if necessary.
While Teslas have had what the company refers to as “self-driving” options for years, those options include the warning that drivers must stay ready to take control of the car should the need arise to control accidents.
